ShoFIGHT CEO J.T. Tilley confirmed Grove’s original opponent, Terry Martin, was unable to obtain medical clearance with the Missouri Office of Athletics and was forced to withdraw from the bout, opening the door for Brunson.

Featuring a welterweight title fight between UFC veterans John Gunderson
and Karo Parisyan, ShoFIGHT 20 takes place June 16 at O’Reilly Family
Event Center on the campus of Drury University in Springfield, Mo. The
card airs live on the Fight Network in Canada and on a tape-delayed
pay-per-view on July 1 in the U.S.

The new Brunson vs. Grove fight serves as the evening’s co-main event.

Brunson made his professional debut in May 2010 and has already competed nine times as a professional. Competing on the regional scene, the North Carolina native earned six-straight first-round stoppage wins before earning a Strikeforce bid, where he has since scored victories over Nate James, Lumumba Sayers and Jeremy Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Grove, the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 3,” was released from the UFC in 2011 following a 13-fight run in the octagon. Following his release, “Da Spyder” notched ProElite victories over Joe Riggs and Ikuhisa Minowa before suffering a technical-submission loss to Jay Silva at February’s Superior Cage Combat 4 event.

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